This would enable the translucent IJs to be viewed beneath a fluorescent microscope and be scored qualitatively for the presence/absence of bacteria. Colonies of the gfp-tagged strain (called TT01gfp) were initially checked for fluorescence using a UV light box before overnight cultures were checked for gfp expression using a fluorescent microscope. This confirmed that the vast majority of cells in an overnight population of TT01gfp were expressing gfp (see Figure 1A). Phenotypic comparisons of TT01 and TT01gfp confirmed that there was no difference in

growth rate, bioluminescence, pigmentation or Fosbretabulin chemical structure virulence to insect larvae. Furthermore we also verified that TT01gfp was able to colonize IJ nematodes (see Figure 1B) with a transmission frequency identical click here to TT01 (between 80-85%). As has been previously shown, the TT01gfp bacteria were confirmed to occupy the proximal region of the nematode gut extending from just below the pharynx of the IJ (see Figure 1C). Figure 1 Visualization of P. luminescens TT01 gfp using fluorescent microscopy. A) Image of a population of TT01gfp cells from a ABT-263 ic50 culture grown for 24 hours statically at 30°C; B) IJs colonized with TT01gfp (note that > 80% of the IJs can be seen to be colonized with TT01gfp); C) a fluorescent

micrograph overlaid with a brightfield image of a single IJ confirming that the bacteria are located at the proximal end of the gut near the pharynx (p: pharynx; b: TT01gfp). Identification of TT01gfp

mutants affected in colonization of the IJ In this study we were using a qualitative screen that was designed to identify mutants that were affected in transmission frequency i.e. we were looking for mutants that colonized significantly fewer IJs than the 80% level observed with TT01gfp. Therefore TT01gfp was subjected to transposon mutagenesis using the Tn5 interposon Dimethyl sulfoxide delivered by plasmid pUT-Km2 and individual mutants were arrayed into 96 well plates and frozen. From this arrayed library 3271 mutants were screened for a defect in transmission frequency by growing the mutant on a lipid agar plate and inoculating the biomass with 30 surface-sterilized H. bacteriophora IJs. After 21 days incubation the new generation of IJs were collected and checked for colonization using a fluorescent microscope. In this way 40 mutants were identified as having a qualitative defect in transmission frequency i.e. <50% of the IJs were observed to be colonized by the mutant bacteria. Each mutant was then re-screened (in triplicate) and approximately 120 IJs in total from each mutant were individually examined using fluorescence in order to get a quantitative measure of transmission frequency. As a result we identified 10 mutants that reproducibly gave transmission frequencies of <35% (see Table 1). The gene that was interrupted in each mutant was identified (with the exception of #26 F7 and #32 F12) and the loci affected are shown in Figure 2.